Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-12


is rot any desire TO make scapegoats
| of the railroads, CT TO DE unfair OF
| q, Just TO them. So far 60 The GAZETTE
itself is concerned, its .riendiness, at 81
times and under oil circumstances, &c
railroads has Subjected it to hsrsh and
ungenerous criticism from the unthiDk-
ing and demagogicsl classes. THE GA,
zsTTE regards railroads IS one of the tsc
tors, and most potent one, IN the de-
velopmeut of this state, and in the bust.
ness and social life Of the people. The
GAZETTE has ever resisted the ides
| whether expressed in the clamors OF the
6smagogue or in stilted action Of railway
managers themselves, that the railroad
was thing apart from the people, and
has faithfully endeayored 10 inculcats
the fact that the railroad is a part OF TIE
oody polite, not to be segregated, either
by the arts OF the demsgogue and treated
as an alien, or by the greed and tyranny
Of railroad kings and treated as ruler.
TIE GAZETTE has ever claimed for the
railroads fair and just treatment by Juries
and legislatures, and it claims now fair
ness enj justice, no more, no less And
THE GAZETTE here protests against the
intimstion of the Post that criticism,
comment and plea must be suppressed
that pre- udice msy not be formed among
the vicious and the uniformed. Such
claim as this would silence all crlti-
cism OF any class OF the people, and make
Of each class the thing apart
asserted by the demsgogue. To admit
the implied claim Of the Post would gag
free speech, and two years ego commit
tee of the Knights CT Labor waited Oh
TIE GAZETTE ana announced identtcaIly
the same claim, which rests upon the idea
that the various classes Of our social
fabric are not parts Of common entity
but are segregated particles Of disunion.
and therefore, he who is not for any one
of these classes is said to be against It..
TEE GAZETTE prefers to treat railroads,
Knights of Labor, prote ctionists, free
trade men, bankers, lawyers, laborers,
ct al, es component parts CT q whole
with g common interest, which is to be
ascertained end advanced by free discus
sion and friendly protest, such protest to
be made So energetic IS contumacy on the
part Of any one Glass may demand. The
GAZETTE seeks the truth, fairness, justice
and good to ell the people Of Texas, of
which the railroads are pslt.
49,
THE GAZETTE dlsmisses with brief
paragraph the assertion OF the Post that
the Houston ead Texas Central Railroad
has been generous to Fort Worth and to
TIE GAZETTE. N1ither the Central road +,
the city Of Fort Worth, nor TEE GAzKTTE
newspaper is the question at issue. Fort
Worth is but one city of Texas, the Cen
trai is but one member Of the Texas pool,
and THE GAZETTE has endeavored, at
least, to requite the generous qualities OF
the Central. But all this, we repeat, has
nothing to do with arriving at come plan
cooperation between railroads aud peo-
pie whereby both may be benefited and
the state of Texas placed in condition to
"regain the ground which apparently "
and actually 81 the state has lost"
.s
The Post refers to the payment OF COM
missions as ga questionable course OF
procedure" and then very broadly init
mates that the Trstfic Association does
pursue this questionable course ty
the payment Of commissions
While ne Post is very much mistaken In
declaring that "the burden of THE GA
zErrR's complaint" is the failure or re-
fusal Of Texas roads to pay commissions
to agents outside of the state on tickets
sold to T,xss points, THE GAZETTE az
FIRMS that this course OF procedure is
not questionable either in THE GAzETTE's
estimation Or that OF the pool-if the
POSTS intimation is to be construed IS a
OSnl6l LDaG tuS tSAas ioadS 1StaSe
to pay commissions. While on this
subject, 1t m6y be as well to
state that the non-psyment of commits
siops was a fundamental plank in the
platform Of the pool az originally cen
structed. The idea of the Pennsylvania
Central, which is G rich road running
through q section that is finished, w.s
transported to the sparsely settled re
gions of Texas and made 10 do duty es
the great moral rt form plank in the pools
plstform to the detriment OF Texas,
whose competitors in the northwest were
receiving immigrants, impelled to Kansas,
Nebraska, Dakota and Colorado by the
persuasive ele querce of ticket agents who
receive so much on each ticket sold to
those states. The Texas TT: ffic Associa-
ion met in 1885 snd organized and adopt
ed platform based on high moral ideas
peculiar to rich trunk lines traversipg
densely populated regions, and, there =
If er, the young and guileiess ticket
agents Of the north and east
vera not to be contaminated